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Let me explain: the most delicious egg dishes don’t ever hit the oven. During recipe development, realizing that using a cover produces a humid atmosphere that gently cooks the eggs, resulting in perfectly cooked soft-cooked egg featuring set whites and flowing center. Direct oven heat in conventional ovens proves harsher compared to steaming, often leading to dry everything out and harden the yolk. I’ve given you two sauces to get started, though feel free to experiment. The first features an easy turmeric coconut curry, while the merguez ragu reimagines classic tomato-baked eggs, essentially, spicy tomato eggs.

Golden Coconut Sauce Baked Eggs (shown above)

Preparation 10 min
Cooking time Just under an hour
Yields Two people

Olive oil
One medium onion, trimmed and minced
Salt
Two garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
10g fresh ginger, grated ginger
Golden spice
½ tbsp cumin seeds
Curry leaves
Creamy coconut
Chickpeas
A few basil leaves, and additional for topping
Four eggs
Green chilies, thinly cut, as garnish

Use a heavy skillet over medium-high flame. Drizzle olive oil, add the chopped onion seasoned with salt, fry until softened. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, allow to cook, mixing now and then for a few minutes, then tip in the coconut milk including chickpea can contents. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, let it simmer about 35 minutes, when sauce is rich and yellow. Season with salt, then stir in the basil leaves.

Employ a utensil making four indentations across the base, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs with salt, cover the skillet, simmer over low heat for two to three minutes, until egg whites firm with yolks still runny. Take off the heat, garnish with more basil and sliced chilies, and serve.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep Quick prep
Cooking time 45 min
Yields Two portions

Oil
Merguez sausages
1 tbsp harissa
Cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
Tomato base
Seasoning
Fresh eggs
Pickled peppers, coarsely cut
1 small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, diced
Creamy yogurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, for serving

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and, once it’s warm, remove the skins from the sausages forming small bits into the skillet, resembling tiny meatballs. Reduce heat, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, extracting spicy fats. Move sausage pieces as they cook, for even browning.

After browning, mix in spices and garlic to the pot, turn up the heat to medium fry with mixing, for several minutes, until the mix smells fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Tip in the tomatoes, add seasoning let it bubble. Turn down the heat to low cooking gently for twenty minutes. The ragu will reduce, become richer and darker, while the oils split and rise to the top.

Use the back of a spoon to create four little pockets within sauce, add eggs individually. Dust with salt lightly salted, then cover the pan with a lid. Heat for minutes on low flame, when eggs set with yolks runny.

Remove from heat, top with pickled peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, and oil splash, and serve with lemon wedges.